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20080821

master log

So, now I own a motorcycle. Again. If you've been watching my Qik feed, or following me on Twitter, then you already know this. It's a 1978 Honda cx500 that has been chopped and modded and re-wired and probably crashed and definitely painted a few times. But... It runs. I have decided to use the bike in the nice weather, and work on the bike during the bad weather. It will be my on-going and slow project. Craig Kuhns helped me decide on a name, something that I used on Xbox LIVE once upon a time: Kernel Panic. If you don't get it, that's ok.

Heather got my iPhone, and I "down-graded" to a Nokia E61i so that I could stream video LIVE to Qik.com and then it dumps it straight to YouTube as well. Oh, and I just got in to the Alpha release of 12seconds.tv and it's a quaint little service that is basically a video version of twitter. Where twitter caps you off at 140 characters per update, 12seconds.tv caps you off at, you guessed it, 15 seconds. Oh wait, I mean, 12 seconds. I like the service, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to use it. I like Qik a lot, and I know I'm not going to replace it with 12seconds, but with two kids, I know I won't be able to fit their cuteness into a mere 12 seconds of footage. I'll probably use 12seconds for my personal updates, and qik will stay strictly on the phone.

Oh, and organic visual got a face-lift and botox injection last week. Matches the new business cards better, and includes more ways to contact me and view our stuff in a single page.

posted at 2:17 PM | 0 Comments | leave a comment

20080806

peak limiter

So I'm back in The United States, and I'm getting back in the groove. Jackson.

After spending 2 weeks in India, and almost 3 days of that in the air, I arrived back in Carolina to pack up and drive up to Virginia to see family. I rented a car for the weekend, and used it primarily for the Air Conditioning. When you're taking a 6-hour car ride with a 2-year old and a pregnant woman, paying extra money for AC is well worth it. When we got up there, I started feeling sick, and spend a couple days in a bed, sneezing, sniffling, coughing and sleeping. I'm still suffering from the effects of having that cold all weekend, but those symptoms are for a different blog post.

Relatives I had never met, my father's siblings, and family friends all converged on a borrowed North Carolina cottage on an inlet to celebrate the fact that we were finally able to see each other. Four generations of the Bethune Family were represented, with my Father's mother as the matriarch. I met uncles and aunts I had never met, and my father got to see brothers of his that he hadn't seen in 25 years. It was a gracious and elegant reunion considering the potential for outbursts and tension. The combined culinary skills in the Bethune name made for amazing meals, and the humor that I thought was unique to only my father, was multiplied by his four siblings and their mother. We got to see some old pictures of the family growing up in the 50's, and hear some stories that my parents never told us.

I love my family, and my family name so much more, now that I know who's behind it all.

I'll be talking about India more and more as well, but that dialogue will be better portrayed at Hope Takes Flight along with Joel Khouri and the rest of the team.

Also, don't forget about organic visual and the featured videos.

posted at 8:54 AM | 3 Comments | leave a comment

20080716

Hudson News

Why don't airports have more power outlets?

I'm sitting on the floor right outside of Gate 18 in the Raleigh-Durham International Airport waiting for our 5:20 boarding time. We fly straight to London Heathrow and then on to Delhi, India. It's actually happening.

I would be sitting with the rest of the team, Joel, Monique, and Elizabeth, but the only outlet that isn't being used near a seat, is a random one right by the "authorized personnel only" door. Besides, right after I moved to this very uncomfortable position, it looks like Joel spilled a drink under the seats they were all sitting on.

I am so ready for this trip, but man, it was really really hard to say goodbye to Heather and Zay. I don't even know how much i'm going to miss them.

Please pray for my luggage because it has the equipment needed to produce a good documentary. I haven't had any trouble with security or customs so far, and I took a little preemptive trip to the Department of Homeland Security to check-in my gear. I'm not worried so much about my JVC, but more about the batteries and chargers that are in the checked bag.

This is my last post before I go overseas, so follow me on hopeUPDATES.com

posted at 4:42 PM | 1 Comments | leave a comment

20080623

and then... boom!

I've been splitting my blogging between here and Hope Takes Flight, but that doesn't mean I'm splitting them right down the middle. Because this trip, and this project is so important to me, I'm spending a lot of my time and money investing in what we're doing with Hope Takes Flight.

Wednesday, I'm going to the Public Radio show at Tremont Music Hall to record their show (like I did for Songs of Water last week). Hope Takes Flight will have a table there as well, so it will be a good time to connect with more people and spread the message.

Ok, bye.

posted at 3:31 PM | 0 Comments | leave a comment

20080615

it's going to be crowded

Today is my 3rd Father's Day in a row!

Heather and I are on "Vacation" this weekend. I put the word vacation in quotes because growing up, when my parents would take us on vacation, it was a lot of fun, relaxing, we didn't ever want to go home... but now that I am the parent, I understand how my parents needed to rest when we got back from vacation. I am the parent, and I will need a vacation from my vacation when I get home.

I'll post pictures and videos when i get back home Monday night, Tuesday morning.

posted at 1:09 PM | 0 Comments | leave a comment